ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the metabolic differences of the effective fractions of total glycosides of Jinkui Shenqi Pills in liver homogenate and blood by high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ion trap mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI/MSn). METHODS: The in vitro metabolism of the glycosides was studied using rat liver homogenate and the in vivo metabolism was investigated in rats. The metabolites were detected by HPLC-ESI/MS/MS. According to the molecular ion peak in negative ion mode, the molecular weight information of the compound was obtained. RESULTS: A total of 13 chemical components were detected in the rat liver homogenate after incubation for 20 min. Eight prototype components were detected in both liver homogenate and plasma while pentagalloylglucose was only found in the liver homogenate. A total of nine metabolites were detected in plasma, and only four metabolites were found in the liver, which were shared by those in plasma. CONCLUSION: The four common metabolites are produced through liver metabolism of the total glycosides. The RESULTS of this study have important implications for revealing the metabolic mechanisms of the total glycoside constituents in vitro and in vivo.